The Australian Defence Force and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will perform 20 exercises under this year’s Joint Australian Training Team-Philippines. The 2025 JATT-P program will cover a range of skill sets, doubling the number of JATT-P exercises in 2024. Canberra said its Mobile Training Teams’ engagement in the Philippines will involve AFP personnel and representatives from the Department of National Defense.
Geared toward stronger cooperation and broader interoperability, the 2025 JATT-P’s exercises include joint combat planning and engineering, fire support, maritime and aircraft maintenance, aviation safety, and intelligence analysis.
Cybersecurity Training
According to Maj. Lachlan Newham, Australia’s JATT–P coordinator, ADF’s MTTs will also conduct training and engagement in cybersecurity, logistics and required support for contemporary missions. “The 2025 program builds on the success of our previous engagements, encompassing maritime, land and air domains,” the official said. “A defining [program] feature is the close and genuine personal bonds and trust that invariably forms between our personnel and their Filipino counterparts more broadly.”
JATT-P was established in December 2019 under Canberra’s Enhanced Defence Cooperation Program, which is focused on maritime security and counterterrorism, as well as training and education.
Regional Defense Partnership
Vice Adm. Justin Jones, the Royal Australian Navy’s chief of joint operations, said that as part of the enhanced defense cooperation agreement with the Philippines, the joint exercises enable continued buildup of “strong people-to-people links” supporting tight defense and security cooperation. “The Philippines is one of Australia’s most important regional defense partners, and we share a commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” the vice admiral added.
In another move, Canberra has donated 20 drones plus operator training valued at close to $600,000 to the Philippine Coast Guard. Remotely piloted aircraft systems specialists from the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will conduct the four-day drone training.